USA vs. El Sal: Will Mix Diskerud Ride Again?

Few point to the play of Mix Diskerud in the Olympic qualifying final game as problematic for the US as they crashed out of the Olympics with the draw against El Salvador last summer. Diskerud was slow in attack; lethargic on defense and a contributor in not shutting on the final dash by El Sal to rob the US of London.

Will he make amends today. Will El Sal’s lunchpail defense and stalling antics flummox the US.

It seems that a lot of people who post about Beckerman don’t really watch him play that much. It is easy enough to just say he is too slow for international football. But that is a lazy assessment of the situation.

As a regular for RSL he plays against international players successfully all the time. At least I assume he does since he is a regular starter for them and they don’t pull him whenever he has to mark an international player do they?

Beckerman is about as fast as Gattuso, as you pointed out, or Beckham around the time he was captaining England. Speed is not his problem.

Kyle’s problem is his lack of ball control skills, or as everyone here loves to say his first touch is bad. If Kyle had Beckham’s touch, for example, he would have the extra second or two that he now wastes fumbling around trying to get the ball under control. And that could be huge.

I have seen him when that touch is better, a byproduct most likely of confidence. So I conclude that if he gets to play more frequently with this team he’ll get better. Against El Salvador he looked much better than he did earlier. You can tell his confidence is up when he shoots as much as he did.

For example, in the 2011 Gold , Deuce missed a ridiculous number of sitters against Guadeloupe that I am confident you would have made…..easily. And I’ve never seen you play.

It did not stop him from scoring vital goals in the next two games.

In a game where they won 5-1, rather than whine about missed chances maybe you might consider complimenting the US for creating so many chances, something they usually are awful at doing, regardless of the quality of the opposition.

I’m enjoying this team’s chemistry. The passing has been fun to watch and this is not even the #1 team. Its been fun to watch Torres, Diskerud, Donovan, and Corona on the pitch together. Torres got Beasley open a few times on the left side and made a good 1-2 corner kicks. Diskerud makes good passes to the feet of his teammates and while this was not his best game… I loved to see him get a little nasty and take out a player when he was taken out a few minutes before! Yes… I know must stay composed but he’s heard JK’s criticism that he needed to get a little more physical…well he did. Donovan is what he is… good not much else to say. Corona’s goal was something to see… you can tell he wanted to hit it and hook around the goalie like his last goal but that was taken away by the defender so he turned the ball back in and kicked it the only option he had…goal. Then made a great pass on a give and go with Parkhurst. The passing has made it easier for Beckerman, Beasley, and Parkhurst to play their positions and look well doing it!

While I’d love to see Holden get minutes in these games… I’m liking this chemistry too much to wish it would change. Really like what I’m seeing from Diskerud.

Players like Klejstan, Davis (Dynamo), Edu, Zusi, and even Boyd better stay hungry because there are at minimum 5+ players looking to take their spots (Torres, Diskerud, Holden, Corona, Bedoya, and Donovan to name some of the the bigger names). By the way, Fiscal has looked good too. If Holden can get back to his usual self with his club team, he’ll get his chances again with the USMNT as some might think I’m down on him.

Nelson.. While I expect more than three will be picked up… be careful to read too much into JK’s comments. If you are looking at the entire Gold Cup team, a handful have played with the #1 team and are most likely going to be called in this September like Corona, Goodson, Parkhurst, Beasley, and EJ (more than 3 and JK never noted if usual WC players or the other players will make the move up). So while JK’s comments sound like more players will make the squad… I don’t expect that many more (another 3-4) will be called in unless we are expecting mass changes from first team to second team and I doubt that.

The players I listed above from Klejstan, Edu, Davis, Zusi and Boyd. Klejstan has played well for club but has yet to really shine (best chance was friendly before WC qualifiers and he did poorly). He needs to be worried about Diskerud and Holden. Edu was injured but he needs a good season with club. Should be worried about Holden and Beckerman. Davis has been hurt for Dynamo and that has always plagued him. He has Torres and Shea to be worried about. Zusi has grown the most the last 2 years but he now has competition from either Donovan and/or Corona. Boyd while big is still very young and you don’t take him just to take him to WC. Boyd has EJ and Gomez to be worried about.